Beast Masters: Season One
by Queen of the Beasts
Summary: A retelling of Beast Machines. Alone on Cybertron, with no idea about what's going on and unable to transform, the four remaining Maximals must find a way to survive before they go offline permanently with the help of a human, who proves to be more than meets the eye.
1. 00 Tales From the Past

**00. Tales From the Past**

_A young Jack Darby learns the history of the origins of the spark and the extreme changes of their small town._

Eight year old Jack heard thunder rolling in the distance as he tiptoed down the hall. His small blue eyes scanned the area, looking for anything that was out of place. He looked behind him. With a sneaky smile, he reached up and pulled at the lever that helped lowered the stairs that lead to the attic. Once the bottom of the steps touched the ground, he ascended up them.

Bingo! He found what he had come for. He snuck over to a box and tried to unlock it. He succeeded and lifted the lid carefully. He stared at the small sphere that emitted a faint glow, pulsing like a heart would. He reached out and carefully stroke it with nimble fingers. This thing, the thing called a spark, it fascinated him. It caught his curiosity when he first saw it, it popped into his mind a lot. He tried to tell his friends, but they barely believed him.

Jack felt a callused hand grab a hold of his shirt. He spun around and found an elderly man with snow white face and gray brown hair. Perched on his nose were glasses.

"You're not suppose to be up here," he scolded in a low whisper.

"I just wanted to know," Jack quickly replied.

His grandpa stared long and hard before he sighed. "Alright, you're old enough to hear this. Sit down." Jack obeyed. "Well, it began over forty million years ago when two strange vessels crashed into Earth. In the year of ninety eighty-four, they had been awaken. Our ancestors, Spike and Sparkplug and anyone who joined the cause, fought with them.

"Now, when your ancestor, Spencer Witwicky was born, Daniel and another Autobot were killed. In the grieving of it, the new leader named Rodimus Prime had considered about what they called the 'Great Upgrade'. Of course, like the 'Great' War and the 'Great' Awakening, this upgrade was also meant to be special. It was meant to make them _smaller_. But to not let them know much of the human allies and to make sure this had never happened again."

Jack stared at him. "Why?"

"Because they couldn't risk more people being dragged into something that wasn't theirs. So, they hid all of the information they could hide before they left Earth...for good."

Jack looked at the spark. "And the spark? Where did it come from?"

"Well, that's the question," his grandfather said. "It doesn't know how it got into our possession. And yet, it speaks to us—"

"By _laughing _in our faces?"

Both of them looked up to find an elderly woman with her hand on her hips.

"For heaven's sakes, Ron, your ancestors were fools," she stated, "chasing tall tales for nothing."

"They were not tall tales, Judy," Ron argued. "They were based on facts written down from generation to generation. Though, it does make me wonder myself how the spark got into our possession."

Judy shook her head before turning to Jack. "Come, Jack. It's getting late. You should be in bed."

Jack nodded before he followed Judy, but he stopped and turned to Ron. "Grandpa, are we warriors?"

Ron smiled at his question. "Do you want to be one?"

Jack paused and thought about it before he nodded.

"Alright. Kneel down."

Judy stood at the bottom of the steps listening. She thought it was pretty foolish that Ron was filling his head with these stories, but she smiled because Jack was wise enough to know that family secrets like this couldn't be shared because no one would understand.

"Jackson William Darby, you are taken upon thyself to the duty of the Autobots, their ancestors, the Witwicky family, and other humans that have worked with us. Do you swear to never reveal this spark and our secret to those who wish to harm us or our planet?"

Jack looked up at him. "I so swear on my heart and this spark."

Jack heard a chuckle, so he could have sworn it came from the spark.


	2. 01 Tame the Beast Without

******This is Queen of the Beast here. Over the summer, I thought of this story numerous times and I decided to write it down before I lost interest in it. I will also like to thank the person who reviewed in the previous chapter. Now before we get even further into this, let me set some ground rules.**

******1. This is an almost-alternative universe picking up after Nemesis Pt. 2. Unfortunately for you guys, there are a butt load of elements from Beast Machines. If you don't like the cartoon, then don't even bother to read or comment on this. If you do, then congrats. So do I!**

******2. Second, Savage/Noble will appear, but he is given a major makeover, on account of how I didn't like anything much of him in the original cartoon.**

******3. Speaking of matters, some of them might get makeovers as well, so don't expect to see Rattrap wheeling around or Noble will be nicknaming him "Wheelie".**

******4. No Oracle. Nuff said. I thought it was one of the main reasons why the show was a total disaster. So it'll be replaced by a certain person.**

******5. So far, this one and the next three are planned to go as original.**

******6. Rhinox will not turn evil. Yea!**

******7. Finally, we're breaking past the twenty-six episode limit. So, I will like to say that we could go even further from the traditional fifty-two episode limit. Maybe...  
**

******Now, on with the story.**

**01 Tame the Beast Without**

_Escaping from strange new foes and unable to transform, the four surviving remade Maximals encounter a mysterious being who may be the key to their survival. _

A group of black and purple robots with red visors and face masks were strolling down a street of what looked like a deserted city. They seemed cautious, for they had their blasters out and they were constantly turning their heads this way and that. It was as if they were looking for something. Or someone.

Just then a gorilla ran past them. But it didn't look like any ordinary gorilla. True, he had a spatch of gray on his back and he had honey brown eyes, but there was a strip of metal under his chest and he had gauntlet like armor on his arms.

"Open fire!" one of them shouted. And they did, but the gorilla managed to dodge them all, so they transformed into their primary car like mode and followed it.

As the gorilla ran into the light, he saw that he had reached a dead-end and was backed up against a wall with the troopers pointing their blasters at him. Then the gorilla spoke to them.

"I don't know who you are, but if it's a fight you're looking for...Optimus Primal, maximize!"

Nothing happened. He looked over himself in confusion.

"What's going on? Why can't I transform?" Optimus exclaimed.

The drones looked at each other before the leader shrugged and aimed his blasters at Optimus. The Maximal commander gasped and ducked out of way. He grabbed the bar above him and swung right over on top of the walls. The drones aimed their blasters and fired. Optimus dodged them and grabbed the bars up ahead. He swung them like they were vines. The drones followed him and kept firing at him. Finally, he reached a platform. He jumped up and landed on it. It was a close call.

Suddenly, a blur went past him. He looked up to find a figure crouching down and looking at him at the top of the rails of the train. It pointed at the coming TransAm and nodded before it fled.

"Hey, wait!" Optimus called out. He heard the sound of transforming. He turned around and saw the drones standing underneath him. The ape quickly jumped and somehow ended inside.

"Yo!"

Startled, Optimus jumped and turned around to the voice. It belonged to a puke green rat with silver and red paws, a long tail, and a hatch on its back.

"Get off, buddy!" the rat snapped. "Dis is my hidin' spot."

"Rattrap!" Optimus exclaimed, happy to see his friend.

"Optimus?" Rattrap asked.

A shot hit the side of the train and it shook.

"Do ya mind tellin' me what's going on here?" Rattrap asked. "One thing we were flying home for Cybertron. Next thing I know these bozos are using us for target practice!"

"You mean you don't remember either?" Optimus asked. "It must be some kind of a virus or a glitch."

"Oh, ya wanna glitch?" Rattrap spat. "I can't even transform."

"I know," Optimus sighed. "I can't transform either. But we'll figure it out. Right now we just have to keep moving."

Rattrap pressed himself against the wall. "Whoa, ho! No way dis rat's desertin' dis hole!"

"Maximals! Or, whatever you are," the same trooper called out. "You both are under arrest. You will either cooperate and come out peacefully or you will be forced to."

Optimus grabbed Rattrap and jumped out. They landed on the ground and started to run with the troopers chasing after them, firing their weapons at them.

"Rattrap maximize," Ratrrap repeated over and over again. "Rattrap maximize!"

Optimus looked up and nearly gasped. The _same_ figure was running and jumping ahead of them. It stopped and turned the corner.

"This way," Optimus told Rattrap.

He kept his eyes focused on the stranger before it turned right. And it was a dead end! Optimus stopped and watched as the figure disappeared.

"Rattrap, pretty please maximize?" Rattrap whimpered.

No one noticed the dark figure ahead of them until it jumped and fell on one of the troopers. It was a cheetah, with orchid purple and brown spots with golden eyes. Small patches of it were a sea green.

"Cheetor!" Optimus cried out as Rattrap whooped happily.

"Good timin', Spots!" Rattrap complimented.

"Move it or lose it, guys," Cheetor told them. "I can't play blind cop forever."

One of the troopers fired. Cheetor jumped off and the blast hit the drone.

"Hey! You just slagged your own guy! That's deep-freeze cold!" Cheetor commented.

One of the troopers glared at him and aimed their blasters at the feline. His eyes widen before he ran into the darkness of the night as it opened fire.

Rattrap went up to one of them. "Hey, you!" he spat. "Yeah, that's right. I'm talkin' ta ya!"

The trooper pointed his blaster at the Maximal, forcing him to duck in between his legs. Rattrap ran in between more of the look alikes. Just then, Optimus pushed the first one over, forcing them to play dominoes. The trio ran down the road before they went hiding in the shadows of a nearby wall.

"Am I missing something here?" Cheetor queried. "This is Cybertron, right? Our home planet? I mean, why would our _own_ kind shoot at us?"

"Have you looked at them?" Rattrap snapped. "Our own kind don't recognize us in these lousy fur coats."

"No problem," said Cheetor. "We'll just get to a CR Chamber and de-bug this glitch."

"Hello-oh!" Rattrap shouted. "We're in de middle of nowhere!"

"This is worse than I thought," Optimus pinpointed. "If we don't figure out a way to transform from these new forms, we will be shut down...completely."

"So, you're saying if those freaks don't get us, the virus will?" Cheetor asked.

"Oh, I just love havin' options," Rattrap mumbled.

Suddenly a building next to them exploded and fell into the ground, breaking through the surface and creating a endless pit as it crashed down. The drones were coming, but yet the same figure as before ran and jumped down the hole.

"Everyone underground," Optimus ordered. "Now!"

"What makes ya think it's safe down there?" Rattrap demanded. Something shot at them. They turned to find the same drones coming at them. "I withdraw the question."

"Jump!" Optimus shouted as they jumped and down into the darkness, screaming.

They must have dropped at least ten feet because whatever it was that saved them, it caught them before they could go down another few feet. They bounced off of it before settling down.

Something hissed. They looked up and nearly died. As it emerged into the light, Optimus saw it was a reddish pink spider with eight long legs and green markings all over it. It crawled down the walls as he stared at its sickly green eyes. He heard it gasp.

"Oh, it's you," it exclaimed. "Too bad. I was hoping to take some drones with me."

"Blackarachnia?" Cheetor said. "Boy, am I glad to see you."

"Yeah, isn't this cozy," Blackarachnia stated sarcastically. "Now we can all deactivate together."

"Nobody's deactivating on my watch," Optimus said trying to keep his friends level.

"Impressive reprisal, Primate," Blackarachnia mused sarcastically, "but unless I miss my guess, you three can't transform out of beast mode anymore than I can. I give us three cycles before we all get caught and go offline...for good."

"Oh, you sure know how to paint a pretty picture," Rattrap mumbled.

Optimus sighed.

"Come on."

Everyone looked up to find the stranger at the end of the hallway.

"This way," it beckoned before it disappeared into the shadowy darkness.

"Follow him," Optimus decided.

Rattrap and Cheetor gave each other funny looks before obeying.

After a few minutes of walking, the Maximals had reached the end of the tunnel and saw another deep hole.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing boss monkey, because I'm getting really tired of bottomless pits," Rattrap whined.

"Don't you see? That same being has been guiding us to each other. It's no coincidence," Optimus explained.

After a couple minutes of climbing down, the Maximals were going nowhere fast.

"How much farther do we have to go?" Blackarachnia panted. "I'm running out of webbing."

"My servos are stiffening," Cheetor groaned as Optimus carried him down.

"Mine are fusing," Rattrap said barely able to move at all.

"Everyone just…hold on a little longer." But it seemed that the universe was out to prove Optimus wrong, because at that instant Blackarachnia had fallen down, forcing the others to join her.

* * *

Darkness.

It was the only thing there. It was the only thing that welcomed them. It was the only thing that beheld them. Only darkness would comfort them.

No. Optimus would _never_ allow that now. His dark eyes fluttered open before he caught a glimpse of amber, green, and dark green. Relieved the others were awake and alive, he got up onto his feet. He looked around some more and found some rocks and debris in every corner. The place looked like there was a fight here. Only a small ray of light cast down on them.

"Where are we?" Cheetor asked.

"Nowhere," Blackarachnia growled. "Thanks to our fearless leader."

"I know where we're going," Optimus snapped before he added calmly, "We are wherever we are destined to go to."

"Would you stop already?" Rattrap spoke. "Boss Monkey, give it up. There's nothing here."

Optimus stayed silent in his spot before he felt the tension building up inside of him.

"I will not...give up!" he shouted as he rushed forward.

"Optimus!" he heard Cheetor screamed before he heard footsteps echoing behind him.

Optimus didn't stop. He kept running. He kept running to his spark's desire. Or at least until he saw a light up ahead. He slowed down and walked to the light. When he came to the room, he was fascinated.

"I hate it when he does that," he heard Rattrap snarl. "He's gotta learn ta stop acting like th' world depends on him. Someone needs to teach him dat."

"Optimus is the least of our worries, Rattrap," Blackarachnia said. "Right now, we need to get organized and figure out what's going on here."

"Guys, check this out," Cheetor suddenly spoke.

The others looked ahead and gasped. There was a room and in it were bushes and trees adorned with either flowers or fruit.

"A forest in a cave?" Blackarachnia said. "Now I've seen everything."

"But how can plants exist on this planet when der clearly isn't any soil?" Rattrap wondered. "And with no water?"

"Wow," Cheetor mused. "I've never seen these flowers before."

Optimus picked a fruit from one of the trees and studied it. "These trees look untouched."

Rattrap and Cheetor ventured deeper into the greenery.

"Whoa," Rattrap breathed. "Ain't nothin' here."

"It looks like nobody's been here for ages," Cheetor said.

"At least, not that we know of," Optimus muttered to himself.

Somebody screamed and Blackarachnia jumped away from one of the the trees. "What the heck is that thing?" she screeched.

"It's called a vine, ya ninny," Rattrap snapped.

"I know that," Blackarachnia shot back. "But there is no way on this stinkin' planet that a vine can grow _that_ fast."

Cheetor glared at the vine. "Since when do plants grow fast?"

Optimus examined it and noticed the strange qualities on it. He looked back at the others. "We're obviously dealing with alien plants, not anything like of prehistoric Earth's."

"Of course," a voice spoke. "These were substitutes for living things like me."

Everyone turned around to find the stranger. His head was cocked to the side, his bright orange visor ever lit so brightly. His entire armor was black with silver trim. His helm looked like a motorcyclist's helmet, while the shoulder pads were thin and the chest plate exposed his abdomen.

"My name is Jay," the person said. "It's alright. I'm here as a friend and ally. I can help you with your problem." He looked over at the Maximals. "I'm going to teach you how to transform from your new forms."

* * *

Almost a quarter of an hour later, Jay had lead them to a dimmed room just down a hall. When asked about his history and the absense of the planet, Jay talked very little, saying how a virus had managed to paralyze the ones that were present on the planet. Now he stood before them, Optimus close by in case.

"Just free your mind," Jay instructed. "Let go of any kind of thought inside and focus on transforming."

Optimus, Cheetor, and Blackarachnia seemed to be in a peaceful state. Rattrap, on the other hand, was _forcing_ his transformation.

"Rattrap, what did I tell you?" Jay scolded.

"Oh, what's with all the hocus pocus?" Rattrap sighed. "Just give us the command codes so we can transform already."

"It's not going to be that easy," Jay stated. "Whatever freak accident you guys got into, it melded you all into both technology and living tissue. Thus, command codes are pretty much in the past now, so you are all dealing with it spiritualy."

"So, what are we?" Cheetor asked. "Robots or animals?"

Jay looked at Optimus for help.

"Both, _and_ neither," Optimus answered.

"Well, that sure clears things up," Blackarachnia said sarcastically.

"The key to transforming is to find the nature of yourself inside," Jay continued. "It's like finding a needle in the haystack, but once the last straw is removed is only when you are transformed."

As soon as he finsihed, a blue light glowed from Optimus' chest and washed over his body. His giant gorilla form was replaced with that of a humanoid being. His hands were orange and his lower arms had huge beige armor pieces covering them. His shoulders were covered with rocky gray shoulder pads and newly added jet nozzles were on his back. He took a pose, like he was ready to fight.

"Wow," Jay whistled. "You're a fast learner."

"Whaddya expect?" Rattrap said. "He switches bodies, ya know."

But Jay didn't know. At least, until now. "Okay, let's try you," he continued, turning to Cheetor.

Cheetor closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly a purple light engulfed his body. Two arms shot from his sides and the front part of him pulled in. The next thing they knew, he was standing up straight. "Woo-hoo! Check me out," he said.

Rattrap had to do a double take. Cheetor was tall with broad shoulders, a hard chest and slender, muscular abdomen. His legs were double jointed with small pedes. Perfect right triangles were on his arms and ankles with a sword on each shoulder. There were patches of green on the sides of his waist, jaw, and upper legs. Cheetor put his clawed hands on his hips, as if he were proud of his new form.

"I...am...transformed..." Blackarachnia told herself before a light green emitted from her. Four of her legs were replaced by arms and strong legs. A head and torso was were the spider's body was. She stood up and made a movement like that she was about to attack someone.

"Whoa," Jay breathed.

"Check you out," Cheetor said.

Blackarachnia looked herself over. She was still a bit miffed about being pink, but at least she had fingers. She was of tall height with an hourglass figure, her raven black hair tinted with blue. She looked elogant with green eyes. But, her forehead opened up to reveal two hatches that hid at least a set of eyes.

While this was going on, Rattrap fidgeted, determined to transform himself.

"I am transformed," he groaned. "I am so transformed that I don't even believe it!" Eventually, he gave up.

"Need any help?" Jay chuckled as he walked up to him.

"No, no, I got it," Rattrap told him as he tried to force himself. But after at least three seconds, he shouted, "Okay, I need help! Help me, help me!"

"Okay, here," Jay started in a soothing voice. "Relax now. Close your eyes. Alright, so your in a meadow, millions of stars in the sky, the warm breeze, the moonlight flowing through the trees, the lovely waterfalls, the trickling fountains, and the calming sounds of the babbling brook..."

"I can feel it," Rattrap said. "I can actually feel it."

Cheetor's senses came on, forcing him to look around. "Anyone else getting that buzzing sound?"

As the noise got louder, the Maximals looked towards the extended hallway and saw what seemed to be a small light heading towards them was an entire squad of the same troopers racing towards them.

"And now I lost it," Rattrap grumbled.

"Looks like they caught the scent," Jay confirmed.

"What do you say we give our new bodies a test drive?" Cheetor proclaimed ready for battle. The Maximals then jumped forward as Rattrap bared his teeth, Optimus growled with his fists ready, Blackarachnia positioned herself, Cheetor readied his swords, and Jay heated up his rifle. At the same time the drones transformed and readied their hand blasters.

A huge figure landed between them and the newcomers. They stared at the dark colored giant that glared at them as it snarled and straightened up, though it was hunched. Unlike most Cybertronians these days, who looked human, this one was beast-like. Especially its face. It bared its sharp teeth at him.

"Does he come with a warranty?" Rattrap whimpered.

"Looks ugly if you ask me," Blackarachnia scoffed.

"Do not judge Hardshell!" the mech shouted. "Hardshell will have puny scums arrested and tried for."

"They brought a crowd," Jay mused. "That's something I've never seen before."

And as if someone hit a switch, the place was filled with the sounds of battle.

A trooper marked J-11AM35 snarled as he tried to sink his claws into Rattrap's hide, who was able to dodged and use his smaller size and mass well against the trooper, running around him and striking him in several vulnerable places, while the drone growled and hissed in pain as he managed to leave deep scratches on Rattrap, making him wonder how come he couldn't get out of beast mode.

The second drone marked K3NNY charged at Cheetor as he struck him over and over again with his blaster while avoiding Cheetor's swords. But the feline was able to get in a good hit as he jumped and managed to stab the attacker in the visor, causing him to reel back and cry out in pain. Giving Cheetor the opportunity, he rammed them both into its chest and pulled back before one marked 6A-R33 charged at him.

Jay had disposed his rife back to his armor and pulled out an Cybertronian version of a sword as one he faced one marked as ST-113V3. He let out a battle cry as he charged at the trooper. Gripping the sword, Jay swung it and scratched the trooper, but it wasn't good enough. The Decepticon smashed and banged his blaster against his rival before delivering not much of a punch to the stomach. But Jay countered by smashing the hilt of the sword into ST-113V3'S chin, causing him to fly backwards and land a few feet away.

Blackarachnia dodged J03Y as he attacked. He was able to draw energon from jer as she panted, trying to think of who to push him into a corner. In the end, Blackarachnia crouched down and electrical charges pulsed through. She jumped and did a backflip in the air. She landed on the trooper and electricuted J03Y. The trooper cried out before it dropped down. Dead? Unsure of it yet.

Optimus and Hardshell clashed with one another, both trying to get the upper servo in this battle. Hardshell brought down his claws, only for Optimus to block it and slam a fist into his face that made him take a few steps back as Optimus charged. But Hardshell stepped to the side, causing Optimus to stagger slightly as he tried to turn around. But Hardshell was quicker as he slammed his arm into Optimus' neck, causing him to fall to one knee. Hardshell raised his claws to finish off Optimus, but he managed to combine his energy and threw a beam of it at Hardshell, who went flying.

Jay heard a cry and found Cheetor skidding across the floor. A trooper had his blaster pointed at him. Jay finished off the trooper he was fighting and ran towards them. As the trooper fired, Jay was between them. The blast got him in the back, sending him flying to the other side of the room.

"Jay!"

Everyone looked up and found the stranger unconscious. He laid there limp, motionless, and didn't show much signs of life. The only way they knew was the constant groaning he gave out.

Rattrap saw this and was filled with anger. He slowly glared at his enemy with venom in his eyes. Then a wondrous thing happened. A bright red light glowed from his chest. Before he could transform, he rushed forward and jumped and transformed all at once. He jabbed something in the mech's chest, permanently putting it offline.

Rattrap's new form was quite unique. His face looked quite humanlike, but it was gray, despite the red, black, and green armor he had. A visor rested at the top of his head. Attached to his lower legs were two wheels with the Maximal symbol to it. Despite his short size, he had some muscle in his arms.

"Grenade!" the one marked ST-113V3 shouted before they took off. Hardshell roared and ran after them.

"Out, now!" Optimus shouted.

Jay sluggishly struggled to his feet, then to be supported by Cheetor. The feline grabbed Blackarachnia as Optimus got Rattrap and they all got out there. By the time they had reached the surface, and on top of a building, the underground area exploded. They yelled and jumped in time before they got caught. By the time they were on the ground, Jay collapsed onto the ground, groaning.

"I got him," Cheetor exclaimed as he ran up to Jay. He gently picked him up. As Jay's head dipped backwards, his helmet had slipped off and crashed onto the ground. The Maximals...they were shocked and surprised to discover that their mysterious friend was actually a human!

His eyes were closed, but every other feature was present: his onyx black hair, his sharp angular face, his light skin. He looked like a young adult, though he had sounded like he was Cheetor's age. The way his eyes looked like they were near squinting, they could see that he was struggling to stay conscious.

"A human!" Cheetor gasped. "Where did he come from?"

"It's impossible," Blackarachnia pointed out. "There's never been a human on this planet since the end of the Great War."

"Well, now that we got 'im out of der alive, what're we gonna do 'bout 'im?" Rattrap questioned.

"We can't just let him go," Optimus stated. "Hardshell and his gang would certainly destroy him."

Jay's eyes fluttered open to reveal cobalt blue. He groaned and brought a hand to his forehead. "Ugh, what happened?" He looked around and realized it. "Oh, now I remember."

"Are ya screwy?" Rattrap finally snapped. "Ya could've gotten killed."

Jay laughed. "So, you _do_ care."

Rattrap's mouth opened, but no words came out.

"Well, I gotta go," Jay groaned as he got up.

Optimus was debating in his head before he said, "We do owe you tremendous gratitude."

"Thanks, but it can wait until the end," Jay stated before picking up his helmet and cradling it under his arm. He turned to the burning fire and started towards it, deciding to go back and repair the place.

"Care to join us?"

Optimus' sudden offer forced Jay to halt and gawk at him. "What?!" he yelped. "I'm just a human. What can I do to help you?"

Optimus looked away before looking back at him and answering, "We really could use an ally to help us know what else happened to Cybertron. But, the decision to do so is yours to make."

Jay blinked. "This is a choice?"

"That is the Maximal way."

Jay looked around. He saw that the other Maximals also had supporting smiles on their faces, like they wanted him to say so. Finally with a grin on his face, he decided, "Alright, I'll do it. By the way, my real name is Jack Darby."

* * *

"Hardshell! Was I not clear on the whole 'optics on him at all times' phrase?" The dark figure did not bother to hide his anger. Despite being in the shadows, everyone could tell he wasn't exactly a powerful being, but he was quick and cunning. He was black with a rounded helm and a red crest that was attached to his forehead. His lower arms were silver blue. The red optics flared with anger at Hardshell who growled.

"Starscream, I must make a precaution. Hardshell is not one to mess with," a small sphere shaped drone, who was hovering over the floor said as he approached them.

"Shut up!" the mech shouted as he aimed one of his arms and fired a missile. It set of an explosion, but he was disappointed when the fire cleared and found the drone unharmed.

"I clearly don't understand you," Starscream said. "I mean, Knockout is narcissistic and Soundwave is so annoying because he talks monotonously. So you tell me, how are they more useful than you are?"

"Um, they weren't programmed?" the drone asked.

Starscream glared at him.

"Commander Starscream," the drone said in a fake painful voice, "I only serve as a medical assistance to Knockout, not as a high class warrior."

Hardshell growled before he came closer. "Hardshell no take orders from you," he growled. "Hardshell take orders from true leader!"

Starscream mocked him before a slender black and blue mech with long, diamond shaped wings turned to them. His face was covered with a mask.

"I see that it is a notorious device, but are you certain that whatever it is you are dealing with is unsubtle?" Starscream questioned.

"Oh, look on the bright side, Starscream," says a ruby red mech. "At least we know where our enemy lies."

"I am just saying," Starscream pointed out, "that it would be a total waste of energon doing so."

Soundwave nodded in confirmation.

Starscream sighed in defeat. "Then activate it."

Soundwave obeyed. A green, white, and sky blue portal formed in front of them. Without warning, flames rushed through and burst into their faces. As they finished coughing, they gazed upwards. Their optics widen with fascination and horror. They saw a beast emerging from the portal: a perfectly built red dragon with some silver on the top of his head. His wings were tattered and torn and his tail was spiked. His golden eyes glared at the small team.

"Decepticons!" the dragon, otherwise known as Megatron, shouted. "I have returned."

******So, what do you think? Good? Bad? Can't tell? Just leave a nice review and let me know.**


	3. 02 Master of the House

**02 Master of the House**

_After their first fight, the Maximals come face to face with the source of their troubles._

It had been a while after the four Maximals had found each other. They did manage to find themselves comfortable living in an underground base with barely much equipment to survive. It never did matter then. The biggest issue so far was the disappearance of not only the entire race of Cybertronians, but also of the presence of Silverbolt and Rhinox.

"Morning, guys!" Jack yawned to Blackarachnia and Optimus as he walked into the central room wearing an old black t-shirt and flannel pajama pants.

"Hey! You acutally _remembered_ us this morning," Blackarachnia commented.

Jack spread his arms out with a small smile. "Third day's a charm," he said before he sat down.

"This place reminds me a lot of the Axalon," Optimus stated as he looked around.

"What's that?" Jack asked.

"A ship we once had before our old nemesis Megatron had his troops destroy it," Optimus answered. He turned to him. "I hope we're not making it too hard on you."

"No, it's been great," Jack told him. "And look, I just want you to know that with you guys staying here and everything, it actually feels great to not being the only living being here that's not being hunted down."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Optimus noted, almost not noticing Cheetor walking in.

"Hey, you're not screaming about monsters this morning!" he exclaimed.

"Alright, alright, I get it," Jack said.

Just then, Rattrap in his robot mode came rushing in. He abruptly stopped and pressed something on the panel to get the doors to shut. Jack knew something was up.

"What did you find?" Optimus asked.

"Zero, zip, lots of zilch," Rattrap answered. "Every files has been wiped clean."

"What?" Jack gasped.

"_Every_ one of them?" Optimus demanded.

Rattrap nodded.

"How's that possible?" Jack wondered aloud. "I just read through them not that long ago."

"That isn't suppose to happen," Optimus ranted. "That pod had the data records, along with the answers that explained why everyone and everything had just up and left. And for what? For _what_?!"

"Optimus," Jack said, holding up his hand.

"What?!" the Maximal leader shouted.

Jack shouted and dove under the table.

"It's okay," Cheetor answered for him.

"The Cons desecrated this planet even before we arrived," Optimus snarled. "You think I can bear lose any of you?"

Jack bowed his head. Apparently, he knew what he felt if Unicron would still have been alive, according to what Ron had told him. He crawled out from under the table as he walked down the hall, going to get changed.

* * *

Later, Rattrap, Cheetor, and Blackarachnia in beast mode were walking down another hall.

"Training," Cheetor scoffed. "I am so sure I need it."

"Do ya have any idea what it's like ta beat these guys senseless when it comes ta beast modes?" Rattrap questioned him.

"Rattrap," said Blackarachnia.

"I know, I know," Rattrap reminded her. "Shut up."

Silence hung between them before Cheetor said, "I really don't understand why we should fight to the death. There's five of of us against, like, a billion of them. And we don't know why those goons were attacking us in the beginning."

"Well," Rattrap said, a sign of an idea spilling on that word, "why don't we go up der and find out ourselves."

"And disobey Optimus' orders?" Cheetor pointed out.

"What?" says Blackarachnia. "He told us to be cautious. He didn't say _where_."

Cheetor hesitated before looking up at the shaft that opened to the upperworld. He either could follow them and die on this planet, or stay down here and let them die. Alone.

"How do we get up there?" Cheetor asked.

* * *

Almost half an hour of climbing, Rattrap carefully lifted the lid of the shaft up. He glanced around to check and see if the coast was clear before they climbed out of the shaft. They walked out of the alley before Rattrap came to a halt.

"What?" Blackarachnia gasped.

"Cybertropolis," Rattrap breathed. "Home to almost ten million transformers alike."

Cheetor gazed at the city. "Where is everybody?"

"It's like they just up and left," Blackarachnia said.

"Eh, don't know," Rattrap said. "Probably had somethin' ta do with th' big cheesehead we fought the other day."

Cheetor stiffened before he loosened up and kept walking. He stopped again suddenly and turned around. "What was that?"

"Eh, probably just some..." Blackarachnia stopped when she noticed the same noise. She slowly turned around and saw a few specks coming at them.

"Um, guys?" said Rattrap.

The specks started to open fire at them.

"Ambush!" Cheetor shrieked.

An explosion hit their location and they went falling to theirs deaths, screaming. Luckily, they hit the side of a building and slid down the side. They managed to land safely on the ground and continued to escape from the flying troopers. Blackarachnia jumped onto a building.

"What are ya doin'?" Rattrap called out.

"Keep them busy," Blackarachnia ordered, turning to him. "I have an idea." She kept running into the shadows.

"Could ya fill us in a little more?" Cheetor shrieked before they took off.

The jets fired upon the Maximals as they scurried away from them. Cheetor didn't know how far they were going or how close they were to Blackarachnia's destination, but he sure wanted to get away from these dorks.

Suddenly, he heard a strange sound. He craned his head to look behind him and found the drones being electrocuted by some wires before falling to the ground.

Rattrap laughed as Blackarachnia jumped in front of him. "Eh, good thinkin', Webs."

"You sure do know how to scurry like a true rat," Blackarachnia pointed out.

Cheetor looked behind him and yelled, "They got friends!"

Blackarachnia turned to find a few jet drones coming at them. "Dang."

"Any other ideas?" Rattrap yelped.

"Just one — run!" Cheetor shouted.

* * *

Jack sighed as he tapped on the screen of his datapad. No matter how many times he tried to get access into the enemy's headquarters, he couldn't get pass the walls that blocked them. So far, he got nowhere.

A sudden vibration shook the base. Dust fell from the ceiling. Jack looked up in confusion.

"What in the world?" he wondered. He tilted his head before he realized the truth. "Oh, no."

* * *

Cheetor had never been so tired in his entire life. He almost tripped over his feet as he and his companions ran as fast as they could.

"We gotta get them away from the entrance," Blackarachnia said.

"How about leadin' 'em away from us?!" Rattrap shrieked as they ducked into a ship yard.

"You got any ideas how to?" Blackarachnia shouted.

"No!"

"Then shut up and keep running!"

They turned a corner and kept going.

"One man, alone, betrayed by the country—"

"Yeah yeah. We've all heard it a million times now," Cheetor groaned. He noticed a pipe. "In there."

They both crawled into the pipe and sat there. Cheetor sighed as he pressed himself against the wall. His paw brushed against something. He looked down and found a strange device. He picked it up. "What's this?"

Rattrap looked up and saw the object. He had a smirk that made Cheetor regret asking. Rattrap snatched the weapon from him and turned to the opening.

"Are you insane?" Blackarachnia hissed. "What if you miss?"

"Au contraire, Mademoiselle, I never miss." Rattrap pulled the pin with his buck teeth and threw it out into the opening.

The clinking sound did not go amiss by the drones. The turned around to find the device beeping slowly before picking up the pace.

"Grenade!" one of them shouted before the object exploded.

"Wow," Cheetor mused.

But as the smoke cleared, only one drone stood standing.

"Uh-oh," Cheetor said.

"We're toast," Rattrap whined.

The silver and black drone glared into their direction before it came over, its blaster aimed at them and firing up.

"Out of all the stupid things I do, you had to show him the grenade," Blackarachnia groaned.

"I am not scared," Rattrap repeated to himself. "I am not scared. I am not scared." He saw the drone coming closer. "Rattrap, pretty please maximize," he asked himself quietly and softly. He covered his optics and shrieked in panic.

"Easy, fella."

All three Maximals looked up to find Jack standing in front of him instead of the drone.

"You're not gonna do much with that kind of attitude," Jack laughed as he helped them out of there.

"Oh, I'm gonna waste one of them one of these days," Rattrap snapped. "And when I do, watch out."

"I'll try to remember that," Jack giggled.

"Rattrap, Cheetor, and Blackarachnia!"

Both of them jumped at Optimus' sudden voice.

"Before you ask," Cheetor started, "it wasn't exactly my idea."

"It wasn't _our_ idea to save your scrawny butts," Jack spat, "and yet we did."

Rattrap slowly got down on his stubby knees before he was completely kneeling down.

"What are you doing?" Blackarachnia asked.

"I am here on my knees," Rattrap said, "about to kiss the ground as a sign of how sorry I am for being stupid. Much like they did in Japan."

"Um, they bow as a sign of respect," Jack reminded him.

"What?" said Rattrap.

"Respect, huh?" Optimus said, looking thoughtful.

"Oh, maybe bringing that up wasn't such a good idea," Jack stated.

"Hey, I know we shouldn't have come up here," Cheetor mentioned, "but I just want to know why there are look alike drones up here and not normal looking...whatever they are."

"Evacuation?" Rattrap guessed.

Blackarachnia shook her head. "There's got to be more to the story than what we've uncovered so far."

"Then ya can explain th' disappearance of th' whole entire planet's population," Rattrap challenged.

"The virus," Optimus exhaled.

"It would explain the whole reason why it messed up our transforming protocols," Blackarachnia realized.

"Until some accident we got into reformatted us," Cheetor mentioned.

"So, what about the drones?" Jack asked.

Optimus had begun to wonder that to. Then he looked over and saw his destination point.

* * *

The Council Citadel was...fancy in Jack's opinion. He craned his neck to see how tall the building was. He felt like he was shrinking due to the fact the structure made him feel like a dwarf. Then again, Cybertronians were bigger back then.

"Wow," he breathed as Rattrap scurried on ahead.

"Rattrap, wait!" Optimus called out. "The Council Citadel may be heavily guarded."

As if on cue, the doors opened and a bunch of troopers came out firing at them.

"Ya think?" Rattrap whimpered.

"Optimus, what do we do?" Jack asked.

"Hold them off while you can," Optimus ordered. "I'm going in."

He rushed inside as Jack fired his rifle. Some of the the troopers were also focused on him, but Jack shot them down as well, getting his leader safely inside.

Optimus continued down the hall until he reached a door. He entered a dark room. He couldn't see anything that much, but a brilliant light lit up, revealing tiles floating in mid air. They came together instantly to form a path. Optimus seemed impressed. He contined down the pathway before two small lights appeared, catching his attention. They flew ahead and lit the ceiling.

"What is this place?" Optimus asked.

A bright light lit the room, causing him to squeeze his optics tight as he slowly opened them to watch something descend from the ceiling.

"Why, you may call it my throne room, Optimus Primal."

He gazed up before snarling, "Megatron." At the same time, he was disgusted watching his nemesis coming down with wires attached to his helm. "What have you done with the Council of Elders?"

"At last, they are no longer in control," Megatron said. "Cybertron is now my domain. You may bow down to your new lord, ___and__master__.__"_

Optimus glared venomously at the Predacon leader as he descended from the ceiling.

"Surprise to see your old nemesis?" Megatron spoke, his voice grim and ominous. "I believe we have some catching up to do. A few memory gaps to fill in."

Optimus snarled in response.

"Let's start with the Beast Wars," Megatron continued. "They're over...you lost. Oh, and there a few loose ends running about."

Optimus looked at one of the screens to find his companions.

"I don't know what it is that did the job," Megatron spoke, "but it lead them straight to me."

"We got to lead them away from the Council Citadel," Cheetor said onscreen.

"How about leadin' 'em away from us?" Rattrap complained.

"Come on!" Jack shouted as he picked Rattrap up and ran after them.

"That very being is the same reason you're still here," Megatron continued, snapping the Maximal leader's attention back to him. "Your new forms may have saved you from my virus, but they _won't_ save you from my Eradicons."

A new screen appeared and showed the troopers. "A wave of the future. Transformers without sparks. No more individual minds. Just one single intelligence guiding them...mine."

* * *

They climbed up the wall as fast as they could. Jack pulled up the visor and looked down before shouting at Cheetor, "They're too fast of climbers. We're never going to get up there in time!"

Cheetor looked up before saying, "You're with me. We'll desperse enough fire if we split."

Jack looked back down. "I hope you're right."

They jumped back down. One of the troopers motioned some to follow.

* * *

"I control all of Cybertron!"

Optimus felt the floor beneath him separated. He fell to the ground beneath, yelling before he slammed into a tile. He felt himself being lifted up and faced Megatron once more.

"I am the future," his nemesis gloated, as a painting was lit up. "I have forged this entire planet into a single elegant machine. A vision of technological purity and order. And you four mongrels, along with your strange ally, would dare contaminate that vision with your accursed beast modes."

"No offense to rain on your parade, Megatron" Optimus pinpointed, "but if memory serves me correctly you had a beast mode yourself."

"And wiped it clean from my shell," Megatron boasted, "like a virus. The same way I wiped this planet clean. The same way I intend to finish the job with you!"

He turned and shot a red light at the Maximal, causing him to fly backwards.

* * *

One trooper barely made it to the edge as Jack and Cheetor ran past him. He onlined his blaster and aimed. Jack stopped and pointed his own rifle and fired, leaving a burn mark. He growled and took off, but something wrapped around his ankles and he fell over. He looked up to find the trooper standing over him, his firearm aimed. Jack didn't have time to react before he heard multiple slicing sounds. He watched as the trooper crumbled down in myriad pieces.

"Oh..."

He suddenly felt his ankles freed. He grunted and sat up. He looked behind him to find Cheetor standing over him.

"Huh. Not bad for a rookie," Cheetor stated as he held out a hand.

"Thanks," Jack grumbled, "for not leaving me behind to die."

He took his hand. Cheetor gave an assuring nod and smile before pulling his partner up.

* * *

Megatron growled as he watched the Maximals beat down his troopers.

"What's the matter, Megatron?" Optimus called out. "Having trouble multitasking?"

Crying out in frustration, Megatron picked up one of the screens and threw it into the darkness.

* * *

Blackarachnia's luck was going well for her. Reaching the top of the building she knew she only had a few seconds to think up a plan.

From the drone's point of view, we see nobody on the roof; but before it can react, Blackarachnia popped up from under the railing and kicked it square in the face, causing to fall to its destruction.

* * *

"It's frustrating, isn't it?" Optimus questioned as he slowly got up from where he was and walked slowly towards Megatron. "Trying to focus on destroying four chaotic individual minds."

"Silence!" Megatron shouted.

"You're still ruled by anger," Optimus continued, almost smiling as he watched Megatron's temper rise. "That's not so pure of you, now is it? You can feel the anger rising within you. The tension is building up. And just when you're this close to being calm, you just explode!"

Megatron lung at him, but he could feel the wires unplugging from his helmet. Pain ripped through his entire body as he felt himself falling to the ground and transforming into his beast mode. His golden eyes showed horror and anger.

"No!"

* * *

The sudden echo of the voice stopped every Maximal in their tracks.

"What was that?" Jack asked.

"Eh, must've been my animal magnetism," Rattrap said.

"Is that suppose to be a joke?" Blackarachnia questioned.

"We gotta help Optimus!" Cheetor exclaimed. "He's still in the Citadel."

* * *

Megatron sprang forward and tried to tackle Optimus, but the Maximal leader grabbed him and beheld him to one of the screens.

"Look at yourself, Megatron. See the very thing you despise the most. Cybertron will never be pure so long as the beast exists within you. You've failed," Optimus gloated.

"No, Primal," Megatron spoke. "You have failed." He blasted fire at the screen and they flew into different directions. Optimus cried out as he slammed into a wall. Megatron stood on his hind legs and turned to Optimus, who was trying to stand up.

"You're still too late to save your people," Megatron said. "Thousands of transformers, their extinguished sparks are on your hands."

"What have you done to them?" Optimus demanded.

"Perhaps if you won the Beast Wars, things would have been different, who's to say," Megatron taunted as he transformed back to his robot mode and regained control.

Optimus clenched and unclenched his fist, a growl resonating through his throat. He yelled in fury and rushed towards the Vehicon, only to miss and land face first on the floor.

"Who's the beast now?"

Megatron raised his hand and opened the door to the control room, revealing more troopers. But before they could react, Cheetor, Jack, and Blackarachnia appeared behind them and used their respective abilities to destroy several of the drones. Megatron yelled in anger as he had been unable to destroy them, while Cheetor and Blackarachnia were shocked to see their old enemy alive. Megatron decided to take matters into his own hands and parted the pathway under Optimus' feet to give away. The Maximal leader ran for the other side, but before he could reach his allies, he fell in to the seemingly endless darkness.

"Optimus!" Jack shouted.

Megatron laughed triumphantly and summoned Hardshell to finish off the rest of the Maximals. Just when it seemed they were finished; they saw Optimus alive and using his jetpack to fly out of the pit. Hardshell gave out a savage roar and charged.

"Let's bust this joint while we can," Jack shouted.

"Optimus, we have to leave now" Cheetor said. "We're outnumbered."

"NO! This is my fight," Optimus said as he braced himself for the coming attack.

Jack saw that Optimus wasn't going to be convinced. He knocked his leader unconcious with the butt of his rifle.

"Sorry, Optimus," he whispered, "but I'm not going to let you die."

Something suddenly wrapped around his ankle and yanked him down and dragged him to the shadows. He yelled for help and clawed at the floor. Cheetor grabbed his sword and slashed at the substance.

"Thank you," Jack exhaled before scurrying to his feet.

As Cheetor and Blackarachnia used their combined strength to drag Optimus away, Rattrap jumped from out from the shadows where he was hiding and used his hands to unscrew a vent opening.

"Alright, Optimus. You've saved my tail enough times today, now it's my turn to save yours," Rattrap spoke under his breath as he unscrewed the last bolt on the vent as Hardshell drew closer.

"Let's get going while the goings good!" Jack yelled to his friends as he jumped into the vent.

As the rest of the Maximals reached the vent, Optimus still put up a little resistance before falling into the vent and yelling "Megatron!" As he heard his foe's words reverberate through the citadel, Megatron had a victorious scowl on his face seeing his enemy's flee in defeat.

Starscream, Soundwave, and Knockout stepped out of the shadows.

"What a magnificent way to manipulate his emotions towards us," Starscream praised. "It isn't every day you see a Maximal boil with rage, putting up a good fight."

"Yes, but you don't see Cybertronians look exactly like that black one," Knockout pointed out.

"Hmm, true," Starscream agreed. "Where did he come from?"

"I don't know," Knockout said. "Maybe another freak accident."

"So, Starscream, I've escaped from my imprisonment, find the planet fully dysfunctional, and I come back to find Maximals RUNNING AROUND?!" Megatron shouted, forcing the seeker to jump back. "And not to mention that I happen to be one soldier missing. Why has this happened?"

Starscream quickly thought of an excuse before he pointed and shouted, "It was Knockout's fault!"

"Precisely why — WHAT?!" Knockout yelped.

"We deliberately told him to rid the Maximal at ease, but no," Starscream said. "No one ever listens to me."

"Ha ha. Ha ha," laughed Soundwave monotonously as Hardshell burst out laughing.

"What?" Starscream demanded.

"That is the worst excuse I have ever heard from you," Megatron snarled. "Even Hardshell could come up with something better."

"Ha ha — Wait, what?" Hardshell asked.

"So, do you want us to terminate them, like, now?" Knockout suggested.

Megatron hesitated.

"No."

"What?" Starscream asked, surprise.

"I want you to find out how they became like that," Megatron commanded. "And I want you to know of the stranger's origins right now. Is that understood?"

His soldiers confirmed to agreement and set off to work.

* * *

After avoiding the patrols of the Eradicons, the Maximals had finally reached the catacombs of Cybertron. After catching their breath, Cheetor asked the question that was on all of their minds. "I don't understand, Optimus. I thought we defeated Megatron. How is he in control of Cybertron?"

A saddened look came over Optimus' face. "I failed; I could have prevented this nightmare," he said.

A hand gently grasped Optimus' shoulder. He looked up to find Jack smiling at him.

"Don't worry, Primal," he said. "We're right here for you, and we'll never leave your side until the end."

Optimus looked at his faithful friends and then back at Jack. "You're right. Thanks to whatever accident happened, we now represent the new age for Cybertron. We are no longer simple machines or mindless animals. We are now the perfect unity of the two. We are no longer transmetals, Fuzors, or Optimals; we are now from this moment on...BEAST MACHINES!"

**Hoped you liked it. Until next time.**


End file.
